I'm Here For You
by J. Merrick
Summary: AU. What if Tony and Kate were brother and sister? A look at how that might have changed things.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm Here For You  
**_J. Merrick_

_Disclaimer: I don't own NCIS, or possibly my own sanity._

_Okay, so I played around with their ages just a little bit. Shoot me. I also played around with the character histories just a smidgen, as should be patently obvious. I took some creative license in fleshing out the character's back stories to not only fit the stories, but to provide one while remaining somewhat in grasp of 'reality' (of which this story firmly has no footing in)._

_I got the idea for this story from re-watching the season one and two DVDs and noting that at times Kate and Tony acted exactly like brother and sister. Yeah, I know that by the end of the second season it was being translated into sexual tension, but this idea stuck._

_Particular spoilers for 'Heart Break' and 'Yankee White' if you've never seen those. General spoilers for the entire show._

_-_

**Chapter One**

-

_**Time line: Pre-NCIS**_

"Anthony, I want a divorce," Patricia Todd DiNozzo said while holding a wine glass precariously between her thumb and forefinger.

"Are you serious?" Anthony DiNozzo asked, with a gob smacked look upon his face. He had just returned home from work, and was still wearing his 'work suit' as his two kids referred to it as. He had yet to put on his 'home suit.'

"Come on Anthony," Patricia said with a disbelieving look on her face, almost like she was taken aback, "You can't say you didn't see this coming. You're never home, I'm an alcoholic, we don't even talk to each other much anymore."

"What about the children?" Anthony asked, looking almost heartbroken. It would later turn out that he was so absorbed into his work that he had not, in fact, seen this coming.

"Don't even give me the whole 'stay together for the kids' speech Anthony," Patricia said, before finishing off what was left in her wine glass, but still keeping a hold of the now empty glass in her hand, "In fact it would probably do some good for them."

She laughed a short, almost sarcastic, laugh, "We could never give them a normal upbringing the way we are now. If we end this charade of a marriage now, we can stop ourselves from doing enormous harm to them."

"So you really have put some thought into this?" Anthony asked, still in denial that his wife, who he thought had loved him up until the moment he had walked into his dining room that evening, wanted to end their marriage of eight years.

"Yes, Anthony," Patricia said evenly, staring straight at the defeated man, "My bags are already packed as well. I'll have the papers that I had Micheal draft sent over in the morning."

"Please don't tell me you're taking the kids as well," Anthony said, watching as his wife tossed the glass that had previously been in her hand into the fireplace of the dining room.

"Like it matters to you Anthony," Patricia said with a humorless laugh, "You only want them so you can have a legacy to the world."

"I won't let you take both of them," Anthony DiNozzo said with a vigor, and passion, that was slowly coming back, and what years before had attracted his wife to him.

"I'll tell you what Anthony," Patricia said, slinking up to him, much the way that she had done on their wedding night, "I'll let you keep Tony, he's already growing up to be exactly like you."

"And you would take Caitlin, my little girl, away from me?" Anthony responded, with a slight amount of anger trimming the edges of his voice.

"Only because it would hurt you more," Patricia responded, "The courts would separate the custody as such anyways Anthony, and you know that. Save yourself the trouble, and the money, and just agree to it now."

The argument lasted long into the night, as Anthony DiNozzo regained the fight that had made him one of the most feared business men out of Long Island in the past century. What the two feuding spouses did not know, however, was that the first of their many battles of the small war that their divorce was crumbling into was being witnessed by two children.

"What's going on Tony?" Caitlin, or Kate as five year old preferred to be called, asked her older brother from their position on the stairs overlooking the door to the dining room, "Why are mommy and daddy fighting?"

"I don't know, Katie," little eight year old Tony replied to his sister, "But it doesn't sound good."

"I wish they wouldn't fight," Kate stated, with a frown on her lips. Her brother reacted by putting his arm around her shoulders.

"Kate do you want to go play your room?" Tony asked his sister, recognizing that she did not need to be privy to this.

"Tony you only want to play sports, you never want to play dolls," Kate sighed, looking at her older brother in slight annoyance at his preferred way of keeping himself entertained.

"Well that's because I don't know how," Tony retorted with a smile on his face, "Why don't you show me how?"

"Okay!" Kate responded cheerfully, forgetting about her parents crumbling union, grabbing her brother's hand and leading him up the rest of the stairs to her room.

The next day, however, Kate watched with her brother as their mother packed up all of Kate's belongings in her room. Their parents had agreed that it would be best for the children, in their minds at least, that Kate would do best living with her mother, while Tony would do best living with his father.

After a nasty six month divorce struggle, both of the respective parents tried their best to forget about their former spouse, so much that they could not stand to see their other child because it reminded them so much of each other. The two siblings only saw each other twice a year at their grandmother's house on each side of the family.

Patricia Todd, as she was now known, had her daughter take on her maiden name after the divorce, and proceeded to marry into a family where a widowed father had numerous sons already. Anthony DiNozzo married quickly again as well, to an alcoholic woman that didn't mind that her husband was consumed with his job. He tried to train his son to inherit his role in his business, but his son just wasn't him, and he watched afar from his job as his son slowly drifted away from him.

As the years went by the two siblings stayed in contact with each other as much as possible, but it became harder when Tony was sent to a prep school in Rhode Island. Kate got along well with her older step-brothers, but never forgot her true older brother.

When they both got to college it became easier to see each other, even though Tony's sport achievements still made it slightly difficult. The two still had the tiffs that all siblings were wont to have, but because of the distance it was hard to keep up the hard feelings. Especially when one of them was in need of the other.

Not many played varsity sports at the collegiate level, and even fewer played more than one varsity sport, and even less than that in a Division I school such as Ohio State. Tony was one of those gifted athletes, and looked to have a shot at going pro in football until his senior year, when his leg was shattered in a game against blood-rivals Michigan. Kate was in the stands that day, as Tony had promised to give the performance of a lifetime in a game that was nationally televised.

Kate would never forget what it was like to walk into the hospital room and see her brother laying on the bed with such a lost look on his face. Oh he was surrounded by 'concerned' cheerleaders as was his MO, and something the young profiler had picked up on very quickly, but the look on his face should have told the bimbos that he did not want their attention at the moment. Although he was lost in his thoughts and pretty ineffectively ignoring the cheerleaders, he was able to notice his sister walk in.

"Kate!" he exclaimed, his facial expression regaining some life, "I had forgotten that you had come here today."

"Who's she Big D?" one of the blond bimbos asked, looking at Kate with distaste in her slightly plain clothes. Big mistake.

"She's my sister you whore," Tony ground out, causing the girls to look at him in shock, and cause Kate's eyebrows to raise slightly, "And if you would leave us alone I would greatly appreciate it."

The two blonde's quickly left the room, almost as if being burned from behind.

"Well, that was nice Tony," Kate said with a slight layer of sarcasm after a moment, taking a seat next to the bed and setting her purse on the table that was located next to her chair.

"They'll probably forget about it by the time they get to the nearest frat house," Tony said, leaning back into his pillows, the lost look starting to creep back onto his face. Kate frowned.

"Tony, how are you feeling?" Kate asked, taking the figurative first step forward. She was always amazed at how few true friends her brother actually had, as evidenced by she was the only person in the hospital room.

"How do you think Kate?" Tony replied, his voice dripping with bitterness, "My football career is over! Hell, my basketball career is finished as well!"

"Tony," Kate cut him off, standing up and placing her hand on her brother's shoulder, "I'm not going to tell you to cheer up or anything, because I know it would be useless at this point."

"Then what the hell are you going to say then?" Tony ground back, looking slightly put out at his little sister. Kate sighed, and looked directly into his eyes, her hand never leaving his shoulder.

"I'm here for you Tony," was what Kate said. What was left unsaid was that it was in a way that their parents weren't, and never would be.

"Thank you," Tony replied, deflating slightly, and smiling up at his sister, who had tears in her eyes. The moment passed and Kate sat back down in her chair, which she turned so that could more easily look at each other.

"So do you think Mom and Dad were watching?" Tony asked, sounding slightly more cheerful than before.

"Doubtful," Kate said with a laugh, "If they were then one of us would have gotten a phone call by now."

"Yeah, Dad will probably only hear about it at work on Monday when someone tells him that he saw his son over the weekend," Tony said, laughing as he always did about his parents lack of care about what he did with his life. He had gained a mantra since his parent's divorce: _If you weren't laughing, then you would be crying_.

"Tony did you have any idea of what you wanted to do if sports didn't work out for you?" Kate asked, changing the subject instantly.

"That's a big if there Katie," Tony said, then reconsidering with a frown, "Well, was would be a better word now."

Kate was about to say something to keep Tony from going down that path again, but he continued speaking, "I don't know, being a police officer always sounded interesting."

"You're only saying that because that's what I want to be," Kate said with an accusing tone.

"Well maybe," Tony admitted with a laugh, "Who knows? I did take some criminal justice courses, I'll put out some feelers once I get out of this damn cast that I'm going to be in."

Kate shook her head, but didn't say anything more. Her brother was happy again, that's all that counted.

As it turned out, Tony was welcomed instantly to attempt to try to become a police officer, which he did, quickly becoming one of the best in Peoria, IL. After spending eighteen months in which he quickly rose threw the ranks, he accepted a job in the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia. It was here that he first began to show promise as a detective due to his uncanny ability to remember and discover details of a crime scene. By the time he moved to accept a higher paying position in Baltimore a year and a half later he had become a full fledged homicide detective.

Kate as well went into law enforcement, but in a different path than her only brother by blood. Showing a proficiency in college at profiling she was recruited by the United States Secret Service, and over the course of two years became a full fledged Special Agent, becoming a member of the Presidential Protection Detail.

Because of the rigors of their respective careers, the two siblings only had sporadic contact over the course of those years, although they made sure to still try to visit each other as their jobs would allow.

That soon changed.

-

_**Time line: Post-Yankee White**_

Tony was relaxing in his apartment after the case of the mysteriously dieing Navy Commander who had just ate with the President on Air Force One. As impossible as it would seem to believe, that wasn't the weird part of the day. The prize for that went to discovering that one of the members of the Secret Service Presidential Protection Detail on the flight had been his little sister, Caitlin Todd.

That had been a right little shock. Of course he knew that Kate had been up for her Yankee White clearance due to him being interviewed as part of her background check. Unfortunately he hadn't been able to get into contact with his sister since then, as his job as a Special Agent at NCIS had been quite hectic, being involved in a whole slew of cases that he never though he would ever dream of being involved in when he had applied to become a Special Agent two years ago.

In a certain way at times he felt like James Bond in his undercover missions, although contrary to what people may think he enjoyed being an investigator more. He was already becoming lauded for his investigative skills, and had even overheard his boss, Gibbs, mentioning to the Director that he had a bright future.

Now his sister was joining the team, and if Gibbs knew that they were related he certainly didn't let on. It would certainly come up at some point – in the near future in all probability.

A knock came at the door. Tony looked at his cable receiver and saw that it was close to midnight. Walking over to the door he wondered who could possibly come calling at this hour, and as such he looked through the peep-hole to identify the person. It was Kate.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of my baby sister coming to bother me at close to midnight on a weekday?" Tony asked as he opened the door with a smile.

"What, a sister can't visit her brother when she wants to?" Kate asked, also with a smile on her face.

"Not on this planet," Tony replied, laughing, "Come in, what's up?"

"I was wondering if I could crash at your place for a few days until I'm all set up in town," Kate replied, as Tony took note of the duffel bagged hanging off of her shoulder, "I would have called but my cell phone has been acting up...and I honestly couldn't remember your number."

"Kind of sad that's how much contact we have had with each other, isn't it?" Tony responded, "You can grab the couch if you want, I was just about to crash out so I won't be good company."

"That's okay," Kate replied, "And thanks, I couldn't find any hotels that wouldn't make me blow through my entire savings."

"I've missed you Kate," Tony said, looking at his sister.

"Same here Tony," Kate replied, "But now we get to work together!"

"And you'll soon regret ever suggesting that I look into law enforcement!" Tony said with a sly smile on his face.

-

_**Time line: Season Two**_

Since he had become a full-time Special Agent, Timothy McGee had seen many interesting things, and he would like to believe that he was becoming a better investigator. There was no way he would ever be up to Gibbs' level, or even Tony's, both of who had to be the best in the business. Still, he liked to believe that he more than earned his spot to stay on the team.

Kate had mentioned off hand one day that a good way to become a better investigator was to observe you colleagues, and 'investigate' their life a little bit. Pick up the nuances of their life, predict what they did. It would help with crime scenes in being better able to pick out details that one normally wouldn't see. As an experienced profiler, the advice wasn't odd coming from her.

Hell, he was certain that was how Gibbs knew so much of all his agent's private lives. Tony probably did the exact same thing without realizing what he was doing. He had learned long ago that there was no way to describe Tony's investigating style, other than he got results. He suspected that Tony was playing the part of an idiot because his personality certainly didn't match how naturally talented Tony was at investigating.

In his observations of his coworkers, though, he had noticed something slightly disconcerting to him.

"Abby, you ever notice anything odd about Tony and Kate?" McGee asked from his position above the keyboard, furiously typing.

"It depends on what your definition of "odd" is Tim," Abby responded, clicking with her mouse.

"I mean...well you know about Gibbs' rules, right?" McGee replied, pausing and looking at Abby.

"Of course Timmy," Abby responded, looking at McGee for a moment, before resuming her work.

"Well then you know about Rule Number 12 then, right?" McGee said, still looking at Abby without doing any work. Abby paused instantly, and swung away so that she was face to face with him.

"You think...you think...oh my God!" Abby said with a complete look of disbelief on her face, before laughing, "You think that Kate and Tony are having sex!"

"Well, not exactly," McGee stammered out, before deciding on, "Yes."

Abby continued to laugh as she walked away from her computer and McGee into her true "office" in her lab.

"Abby it's not funny!" McGee said in tail, "Those two could get into serious trouble if Gibbs found out about it!"

"Timmy, Timmy, Timmy," Abby said, still laughing as she pulled up a file on her computer, "You are going to feel like a complete and total idiot when you find out what's really going on."

"So you've known about this for a while then?" McGee asked, just a little bit more than slightly incredulous. Abby shot him a look that was just as every bit incredulous.

"Kate's my best friend McGee," Abby retorted, though in a manner that a teenager would speak to an annoying eight year old sibling, "We tell each other things, and I can not wait to tell her this!"

"Why?" McGee asked, suddenly fearing for his safety. He did not like to make Kate mad, it was slightly worse than making Tony mad.

"This is why McGeek!" Abby said with a slight flourish, bringing up a picture on the desktop. McGee leaned over her shoulder, and studied the picture. Two out of the four people in what looked to be a Christmas picture looked to be eerily familiar. He heard Abby whispering from right behind his ear, "What do you see Timmy?"

McGee looked harder at the two that looked familiar to him, the two children in the picture, a young boy and girl. It took him all of about fifteen seconds to realize who the boy was, as he would recognize that smug grin anywhere.

"Is that Tony?" McGee asked, looking back at Abby for a quick second, noticing that she had moved back slightly and away from him so they weren't so crowded.

"That would be a seven year old Anthony DiNozzo, yes McGee!" Abby replied, sounding every bit like a game show host, albeit female.

"Why am I looking at an old family picture of Tony's Abby?" McGee asked, wondering just what the goth forensic specialist was up to. Although he was the one that started this line of conversation, so he shouldn't argue with where it lead to, especially when he started it with Abby "Queen of the Tangents" Sciuto.

"Look at the little girl Timmy," Abby replied, pointing one heavily-ring laden finger at the screen. McGee sighed and looked back at the screen, almost squinting as he did. Turning his head to the side slightly, he finally noticed what Abby was trying to point out.

"Is that..." McGee trailed off, looking at the set of the girl's jaw and her hair.

"Is that who Timmy?" Abby asked, raising her eyebrows and smiling a grin that would make the Cheshire Cat proud.

"Is that Kate?!" McGee finally bite out, looking almost slack-jawed between the picture on the computer screen and Abby. Abby nodded in her excitable way.

"Why, I mean, how?" questioned McGee, this time staring directly at Abby.

"McGee you are looking at the last complete family Christmas picture of the DiNozzo family," Abby stated, vacating her chair and walking back into her lab proper, "Taken when little Anthony DiNozzo was eight years old, and little Caitlin DiNozzo was five."

"Caitlin _DiNozzo_?!" McGee exclaimed, not sure if he was hearing Abby correctly.

"They're brother and sister Timmy," Abby said, picking up a Caf-Pow! Off of the table and taking a quick drink from it, "The story isn't mine to tell, but if you feel like asking them, go right ahead."

"This is so Star Wars," McGee mumbled to himself as he walked back out into the forensics lab proper.

"What is Star Wars McGeek?" Tony asked as he walked into the lab.

"Nothing," McGee responded, just slightly to quickly in classic cliché, 'it is something,' styling.

"And I'm Luke Skywalker," Tony replied, causing Abby to snort, "Spill Elf Lord."

"Well, I thought that, well what I mean is," McGee stumbled over his words, causing Tony to look at him in exasperation.

"Can it probie," Tony said, cutting McGee off, "Gibbs needs to know where we're at with getting into this guy's computer."

"And you couldn't have called Tony?" Abby replied, walking over to the computer that McGee and her had been working on.

"What, and miss coming down here to see my favorite forensics specialist?" Tony retorted with a smile, completely ignoring McGee, "And make probie squirm?"

Or not.

"Thanks Tony," Abby replied, as she started to explain to Tony why it was good for you if you reformatted your hard drive seven times, but incredibly annoying for investigators.

-

_**Time line: Post-Heart Break**_

'_I'm so sorry_,' Kate prayed, kneeling in the third pew from the front, head bowed. She felt that she didn't deserve to let the large Crucifix stare at her face, '_How could I have known? What should I have done?_'

Ever since she had shot that innocent sailor, she hadn't been able to think straight. Yes, it was as Gibbs told her, suicide-by-cop. But her heart couldn't accept that. It would have been easier if he had just shot himself, or even if he had fully drawn the gun. But he had barely even flinched when she had made the split-second decision to shoot the troubled young man.

Why did she make that decision? Maybe he was going to slowly drop the weapon and she had shot him unnecessarily. She would never know now, because she had ended the man's life.

It seemed as if everyone around her had been clueless to how this was affecting her as well. Gibbs had just about ripped her head off, McGee would never be able to understand, and Tony was more preoccupied with Paula Cassidy to even notice what was going on with her. She doubted if he even knew she had shot the man.

She slowly crossed herself and stood up, still keeping her her bowed. She didn't deserve to be seen by the crucifix. She exited the pew on the side of the aisle that wasn't being overlooked by the specter of Christ. She raised her head slightly, and saw a shape in the back of the church that looked to be praying as well.

She would have walked right by it, but a tug of familiarity caused her to examine the figure more closely. She noticed a familiar Rosary set in the obviously man's hands. The hair was also familiar, as was the suit that she had seen earlier in the day.

It was Tony.

As she approached the pew she saw her brother cross himself, stand up and look at her, and give her a tight smile. He walked over to her and joined her in walking out of the church in silence. As they walked out she noticed that he had parked his car next to her on the street.

"What are you doing here Tony?" Kate asked as they stepped off the last step of the church, "Shouldn't you be with Paula?"

Kate saw Tony react slightly like he had been punched in the stomach, but didn't miss a step. It took a moment for him to speak, and when he did it was in a low tone, "No she wants nothing to do with me."

Kate again asked, this time turning towards her brother, "Why are you here Tony?"

"Because you shouldn't be alone tonight," Kate was caught off guard by the conviction in his voice, "I heard what happened."

"You did?" Kate asked, looking into her brother's eyes

"I'm here for you Kate," Tony said, putting his hand on her shoulders. This caused Kate to collapse against him, crying.

"Thank you," Kate said, pulling her brother as close as possible as he rubbed her back.

**End Chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm Here For You  
**_J. Merrick_

_Thank you for the reviews from the first chapter. Glad to know that some people are at least interested in this concept. I would like to state that I'm going to probably take this as far as the aftermath of Kate being shot. I'm probably going to skip around with the time line a little bit. The first chapter was really set up._

_In this chapter I should warn you that there are spoilers for 'Chained' and 'Caught on Tape'. This should be fun. Oh what the hell, some spoilers for 'Bikini Wax' as well. I tried to splice the humor with the angst fairly well as life isn't all heavy moment, one after another._

_Once again I do not own NCIS, and as before, I barely own my sanity._

-

**Chapter Two**

-

_**Time line: Chained**_

Kate KNEW that this was a horrible idea. She couldn't even believe that Tony had volunteered himself for this operation. Then again, he probably had been watching an unhealthy amount of James Bond movies lately, and saw this as his chance to play out a fantasy.

A fantasy of what she didn't know, she didn't share her brother's fascination with James Bond, or movies in general.

"You're sure we'll be able to follow him at all times Gibbs?" Kate asked, looking at her boss, who was calmly drinking a coffee.

"Relax, Kate," Gibbs replied, "Even DiNozzo couldn't screw that up."

Famous last words.

"I can't believe DiNozzo screwed that up," Gibbs fumed, slamming his hand on the steering wheel.

"Gibbs it was probably so he didn't blow his cover," Kate reasoned, inside fearful that something was going drastically wrong.

"I know that Agent Todd," Gibbs retorted, "Get Abby back on the phone. There has to be some way to track that idiot."

Indeed there was, although it depended on Tony. All signs pointed to Tony bringing Jefferey White to the cabin that they had set up, and if they did, there was a truck waiting where Tony could continue on with the plan and still be tracked.

"Just hope he doesn't go to Vegas," Gibbs said as the truck pulled away in front of them. Kate breathed a quick sigh of relief, at least they had a tracker on her brother now.

"Now hopefully Tony won't find some way to crash this and we can be led right to the buyers, Gibbs," Kate said, looking over at Gibbs, who gave her a long hard look.

Which was appropriate seeing that Kate had said those famous last words.

"I can't believe Tony crashed that truck," Kate said.

"Hold on!" Gibbs said, as he stepped on the accelerator.

"I'm going to shoot him," Kate said, in complete and total disbelief. Of all the different breeds...of all...he was a dead man. Of course, he would just say he was leaving behind clues that made total sense that wouldn't get his cover blown. She was the only one that would know that she despised Shih Tzus, the annoying puffs of fur.

She held onto her anger throughout the day, until it was learned that Tony was in danger due to what the person he was chained to was involved in. Kate was horrified, and hoped that Tony would be okay. She let her guard down around Gibbs, and felt about five feet tall for doing so.

Eventually they were able to find Tony, but not before Kate felt like having multiple heart attacks along the way. She was going to shoot Tony when she had the first chance. Not for the dog comment, they would have words over that, but for worrying her so much.

She at times wondered if they would be able to coexist as partners on this team. Times like this it was cast very much in doubt, but at other times, when they slipped into the banter that seemed to define them she could very much see working with her brother for as long as God would allow.

When they finally located Tony and Jeffery White, she almost had a straight away heart attack when she saw the blood splatter on the window of the car. She couldn't run over and check on her brother like she wanted to, like she so desperately wanted to. She wanted to rush over to the car and see that her brother was still alive. She couldn't because Gibbs was already checking, so she willed herself to do what she was supposed to be doing as federal agent. It was hard...but she had to do it.

On the drive back to NCIS Tony was absolutely silent. It bothered her, because Tony was _never_ silent. He never looked at spooked as he did now, or as betrayed. It unsettled her greatly. As the rest of the day went on, filing reports, Tony still remained silent, and slightly out of it.

Finally the end of the day arrived, and Kate decided that she needed to take it upon herself to snap Tony out of his funk, if not find out what exactly was causing it. Yes, she knew that his throat had almost been slit (that still terrified her), and it was only his quick reaction that saved him, but he had been in near death situations before. This just seemed odd.

She followed him home, wondering if he noticed that she was following him. When they arrived at his apartment complex she pulled into the space next to him. She noticed that he hadn't gotten out of his car, and in fact it was still running, and he still had his hands on the wheel.

"Is there a reason you followed me home Kate?" Tony asked, relieving Kate in the sense that he was still aware of his surroundings.

"You don't seem to be yourself right now Tony," Kate replied, leaning against the side of her car, with her arms crossed, "I had to make sure you got home okay."

"Well I got home fine Katie, you can leave now," Tony stated, closing his eyes, his car still running. Kate sighed.

"That's not happening Tony," Kate retorted, opening his door and turning off the car for him, "And you know it."

Tony didn't react, even as Kate dangled the keys next to his face.

"What's wrong Tony?" Kate asked, and then she noticed the tear that was slowly making it's way down his the side of his face, "Oh Tony."

"He seemed like such a nice person Kate," Tony replied, "I really liked him...and it wasn't one of those stereotypical, 'and it all turned out to be a lie,' type of things either. I really liked him."

Tony turned and looked at Kate, his hands still on the steering wheel as if they offered him some sort of comfort and grasp on reality, "Kate what does it mean that I like a serial killer so much, that I can identify with him?"

"Come here," Kate said, pulling her brother – somewhat willingly – out of the car, and pulling him into an embrace, "Tony, you didn't have the ideal childhood either, of course you would be able to identify like him."

"Kate that scared me," Tony replied, "Could I really have turned out like that?"

"No you couldn't have Tony," Kate replied, slightly slurred by her face being held tightly against her brother's torso, "You're different than he was."

They were silent for a moment, before Kate added, "Plus he doesn't have a Shih Tzu named Kate to look after you."

Her brother's laughter was all she needed to hear.

-

_**Time line: Post Caught On Tape**_

"I'm sorry Tony!" Kate exclaimed, following her brother around his kitchen as he put different groceries away, "But it was to good an opportunity to pass up!"

"Kate," Tony said, turning around with a slightly mad smile on his face, "You know that if I had down this to you, you would have attempted to castrate me!"

Kate stood speechless for a moment, for this certainly was a consideration. Still.

"Come on Tony!" Kate said, following her brother back out of his apartment down to his car, "Take a joke!"

"It was my favorite hat, Kate," Tony replied, turning around, putting a 'pity me' look on his face. Kate just glared back at him. Tony turned back around and kept walking, "It was my favorite hat!"

"TONY!" Kate called, finally losing her patience, "Just consider it pay back for how often you try to pry into my personal life!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tony asked, hitting the elevator button, crossing his arms and tapping his foot.

"You know exactly what I mean!" Kate responded, slightly heated, "You take every chance possible to pry into my personal life!"

"Well excuse me for being interested in my little sister's life!" Tony responded, stepping into the elevator and then before Kate could follow him in, pushed her back and closed the door. Smiling the entire time.

"I'm going to murder him," Kate gritted out under her teeth, standing in place with her arms crossed and foot tapping, waiting for her idiot brother to return. After five minutes she was starting to wonder if he had left entirely.

"Don't tell me you're still waiting there," came Tony's voice from right next to her ear, startling her enough to scream.

"Tony!" Kate exclaimed, following her laughing ass of a brother back to his apartment, "Stop doing that!"

"When you admit that I don't pry into your personal life!" Tony said, still laughing as he walked through his door, and then stopped, turning around and blocking access to his apartment.

"But you do!" Kate exclaimed, starting to get work out.

"Then sorry Katie!" Tony said, closing the door, and before Kate could do anything she heard the lock slide on the door.

"I'm going to murder him," Kate said, just loud enough that she knew Tony had heard it based off of the snickering coming from the other side.

-

_**Time line: Post Bikini Wax**_

"Abby, are you in here?" McGee asked as he walked into the Forensics Lab, to find one Abby Sciuto.

"In here Timmy!" Abby responded from inside her office. She wasn't alone though, as our fearless McGee quickly found out, as he heard to female voices coming out of it, and he saw that Kate was also in the office.

"Hey McGee," Kate replied from her seat next to Abby, "What brings you down here?"

"I, uh," McGee started to stammer, wondering exactly why.

"I think he wants to spend some time with me," Abby responded, loving when she saw him squirm.

"Oh isn't that cute?" Kate responded, smiling as evilly as she did whenever her and DiNozzo were up to something. Speaking of...

"Actually Kate," McGee was able to get out of his mouth without stammering, "I was looking for Abby, but I actually do have a question for you."

"Uh oh," Abby said, quickly shutting her computer down and rushing out of the lab, causing Kate to look at her oddly, and McGee to close his eyes in anticipation of the pain that was surely about to come his way. Thanks, Abbs.

"What...what the hell did she mean by, 'Uh oh?'" Kate questioned McGee. It was moments like this where McGee cursed the yo-yo that was his courage. It flared up at the most inopportune moments, and then decided to retreat at the single most inconvenient times.

"Well, uh," McGee started, before taking a deep breath and ignoring the glare that was coming from Kate 'I can so kick your ass' Todd, "A few months ago I commented to Abby that I thought you and Agent DiNozzo were sleeping together."

The look on Kate's face, McGee decided upon retrospect, was comically priceless. In fact, it was times like this that he wished he was part of a television show so that he could rewind and watch things like this more often. Unfortunately he wasn't thinking that at this very moment, because he was so hoping that Kate wasn't going to kick his ass. She didn't.

She laughed instead.

"You thought me and Tony, were," Kate trailed off, closing her eyes and shaking her head, "Ew, McGee."

"I was wrong to think that of course," McGee stumbled on.

"Of course you were!" Kate said, shaking her head and laughing, before snapping it up in classic DiNozzo fashion and giving him a glare, "What made you think that in the first place McGee?"

The person in question silently groaned, why couldn't he have the courage of Tony? Then again, if he was like Tony, he would be on his way down to Florida and probably a case of jail bait.

"Just the uh, just the way that you guys interacted," he rolled on, "It was a very common mistake to make Kate, but I was quickly corrected by Abby who told me exactly why I was so foolish."

Kate's expression went from looking slightly amused, to slightly concerned. McGee took a deep breath, once again thanking the impish goth forensic specialist for abandoning him.

"What did she tell you?" Kate questioned, in a low voice. Uh oh indeed.

"She told me," McGee paused in classic 'I'm about to reveal something huge' mode that was constantly used by writers that were looking to fill up space, "That the reason you two couldn't possibly be sleeping together is that Tony is your brother."

A stunned silence.

Of course not.

"WHAT?!" Kate yelled, her jaw fully dropped, "She told you what?"

"That you and Tony were related," McGee stated, no use in holding back now, "She even showed me a picture of you two as kids."

"Really now, Timmy," Kate replied, as McGee's thought on how long the rest of his life would last quickly became less, and less, and less, "That's what she did?"

"Uh, yes," he replied.

"Well," Kate said, walking out of Abby's little office into the Forensics Lab proper, "Isn't that just..."

McGee stayed in the office, silently throwing up a prayer that he was still alive.

"McGee," Kate said, leaning back into the office, and startling McGee, "He is."

Kate walked out, and McGee had a heart attack wishing that he was currently sitting next to DiNozzo attempting jail bait.

**End Chapter.**


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